messy art and Sandra Boynton

Last night the kids did some finger/sponge painting while I made dinner. It was a messy art time, but they had lots of fun. Here are some pix of them creating......




I had to wipe down both of them, the tables, floor, chairs, etc after they were done with their masterpieces, but it kept them busy for quite awhile.

Today I found Gabi sound asleep at nap like this,

What's with her and the Sandra Boynton books?

California

This past Friday my Dad (he had driven up to Seattle the night before), the kids and I took a plane to Oakland, CA to visit my grandparents. Dad had found some reasonable Southwest tickets and thought it would be nice for my Nonno (Italian for grandfather) and Nanna to see the kids. It had been about two years since they last saw them. It is difficult for my Nonno to travel now as he had a major stroke a year ago November. He's made incredible progress, but traveling is still a little difficult.

The kids got a kick out of flying. They are so clueless to the fact that they've been on an airplane more than many adults we know in their little lifetime, they just don't remember it since it was when they were even younger and we lived further away.

Anyway, we had such a nice time visiting my grandparents this weekend. My Uncle John and Aunt Kathe also drove down from Northern Cali to spend the weekend with us. My cousin Rachel who now lives in San Fran spent part of Saturday with us, and my Cousin Ted who is home from Hawaii for awhile came by as well. It was so nice catching up with everyone and letting the kids have a chance to get to know some of my Dad's side of the family.

Friday night was a little rough in the hotel though. Gabi slept in the bed with me and even though I had put a pillow next to her to keep her from falling, she still managed to take a nasty dive in the middle of the night, hitting her head on the heater. Poor thing cried off and on for an hour and half after that, asking if we could go home to "Mama's house," and "sleep in my bed." Dad and I didn't get much sleep that night with all her fussing as she didn't fall back asleep until about 3 a.m., and then she had to be totally spooning me the rest of the night because she was so paranoid about falling. As you can imagine, it wasn't very comfortable with me in my pregnant state with her tiny little "heater" body next to mine. Emilio slept through it all thankfully, but I know my Dad had to deal with the wiggle worm's feet in his face and sides throughout the night.

On Saturday, we went and fed the ducks at Lake Merritt and then to Children's Fairyland . Pictures from Sat. will have to come later from my aunt's camera, as my batteries were dead. I'm also looking forward to getting some of the photos my Uncle John (who is a professional wildlife photographer) took of my kiddos, he caught some great ones!

That night we had torta, salami, lasagna and bread from our favorite Italian delicatessen, Genova. Delicious! Saturday night was a much better sleep in the hotel. I ended up having Gabi sleep in a playpen and she was fine with that. We all slept well that night.

On Sunday we were able to make it back over to Nonno & Nanna's apartment for breakfast before having to say our goodbyes and head to the airport. Besides being shoved repeatedly by a rude couple as I was boarding, and dealing with the grossness of their child throwing up multiple times across from us while we were in flight, our trip home was fine.

I'm so thankful that we had a chance to go down to California to see family before I'm no longer able to travel for awhile. The kids and I also had a great time just hanging with my Dad.


The kids with their Nonno (my dad) and their Starbucks drinks, thanks to him.


Checking out the airplanes


Nanna reading a story to Emilio & Gabi


Snuggling with her bisnonno (great grandfather) while watching Horton Hears a Who.


Getting a Pony Ride from Uncle John


Giddy up Cowboy!


Dad, Nonno, Nanna, the kids and I


Bisnonno & Bisnanna with the great grandkids

Faith like a Child

So the kids had been on eachother's nerves all afternoon. Emilio would call Gabi names. She would then freak out and start crying, "I'm not a ________ (pink poo poo, or whatever he came up with at that instance), I'm Gabriela." I was really on my last nerve with them. Her shreaking isn't pleasant to hear either (and I have encouraged her to use her words instead of freaking out).
Anyway, my energy has really started to wane in the afternoons/evenings what without John around, and being this far in my pregnancy. I kept giving empty threats to Emilio about the name calling throughout the evening, and finally after dinner and the umpteenth time of this brotherly/sister exchange, I knew I needed to buck up and follow through. Note to self: I probably should have followed through the first time around, but well, you know that's not always easy.
When Emilio finally said something again that was unkind, I told him he wasn't getting a cookie for dessert (and he was missing out as these were homemade chocolate chip, peanut butter chip, toffee crunch, everything but the kitchen sink oatmeal cookies that Emilio had helped me bake the other day). Well, as you can imagine, he wasn't too happy about it and immediatly put on his grinch face. He walked away for a little while after some pleading and begging to no avail. When he returned he told me.....
"Mom, I just prayed that you wouldn't get a treat tonight either."
Me: "Oh really, well usually when we pray for people we try and pray nice things for them."
Emilio: "Well, I just know Jesus is going to help me out here."

I couldn't help but giggle inside. He really does have a strong faith if he thinks Jesus is going to help punish Mommy for him.

They've got a crowd

Yesterday before church the kids kept talking about having a race. I wasn't sure what they meant by that and even more confused at why they were bringing every stuffed animal they own downstairs. After seeing the following scene, I realized they were setting up the stands, they needed spectatators!

They looked so cute in their pj's with their crowd of "friends." I'm not sure if the race ever did take place, but they sure had a good turnout yesterday nontheless.

Also check out my food blog. I know it has been forever since I last updated it, but I did add links to two great new recipes I've tried recently.

Knock, Knock.....who's there?

Gabi: Knock, Knock.
Me: Who's there?
Gabi: A pig (surprise, surprise)
Me: Pig who?
Gabi: A piggie rolling in the mud.

Emilio: Knock, Knock.
Me: Who's there?
Emilio: An old man in a bathtub.
Me: An old man in a bathtub who?
Emilio: An old man in a bathtub in California scrubbing his bottom.
Note: It doesn't surprise me that his jokes have to do with bottoms, poop, gas, etc most of the time because he usually finds all these topics really funny.

Does anyone else have to sit through not funny, and slightly strange knock knock jokes with their kids? Emilio and Gabriela find them absolutely hilarious. I put on my best fake laugh, but after the 13th time of telling the same joke, they get a little old. :)

Little People

I thought I'd do a little update on the kiddos. They are growing so quickly, and I know come March when we have a new tiny baby around they are going to seem even bigger. I'm cherishing the time I have with them right now as I know I'll be even busier come Spring with nursing an infant, diapers, and less sleep to operate on.

One of their favorite things to do together, especially when the weather is less than desirable (although today we've seen sunshine so we can't complain at all) is building forts. Emilio usually instructs Gabi to go get necessary building items for him.....heavy books for weighing down blankets on chairs (they call them all Bibles, kind of funny), blankets and sheets, etc. Emilio usually does the heavy lifting (all the chairs, stools and small tables in our house) and configuring of the forts. He has a good idea of what he has in mind for each creative construction. Here is the latest from today.


Emilio was upset with me for taking this picture as he says they aren't finished with the fort yet. I can't imagine what else they are going to add on as they've used up every chair, stool and table on the bottom level of our house already.


We have really seen great leaps in maturity in our Emilio lately. He is still a spirited little guy, but more mindful about obeying, taking care of his toys and room, following directions...especially in his preschool and Sunday school settings. He enjoys helping bring dishes to the counter after a meal, unloading the clean utensils from the dishwasher for me (he knows where each piece goes in the drawer), taking the garbage to the garage, and protecting his sister when we are out and about (holding her hand across the street, etc). It is very sweet and he's going to be an awesome big brother to his new little bro or sis.
Emilio's favorite things to talk about right now are piranha fish, volcanoes, earthquakes, dinosaurs, and all types of insects. He has a very big appetite for knowing about all things science, and has a good memory too. We just checked out new non fiction books at the library yesterday on all these subjects and he's devouring the books (as much as one can when you don't know how to read yet). I'm glad we have the books to learn from because I think I've exhuasted all my knowledge on bugs, dinos, etc on him already.
He's getting quite good at playing his VTech VSmile Pocket Game System, building LEGOs, and swimming (he has swim lessons twice a week). Emilio also is a very thoughtful boy when it comes to praying for others. His prayers at the dinner table usually consist of;
"Dear God, Thank you for the lovely food you give us. We know not everyone has food and warm comfy beds, so please help them, and help us give some to them. Thank you Lord for all the things you give us. Amen." He really is tenderhearted.
Like all children, he has streaks of orneriness, but he's really grown a lot in the past few months.

Gabriela is looking older all of a sudden. Losing that baby look in her face, which I guess is appropriate since she won't be the baby of the family much longer. She still LOVES anything to do with pigs. She loves sitting on Daddy's lap at the computer and looking for pigs on the Internet. She squeals (much like a pig) in delight when they find pictures of pigs. John often types in this and a picture of 5 pink pigs appears as an advertisement for a pork company (sad, I know.). Anyway, Gabi also loves all the other "beautiful" animals in the world. Her list of "pretty" animals include pigs (of course), unicorns (not really of this world), butterflies, flamingos, and ladybugs. If they have pink on them or appear attractive in any way she deems them "beautiful." We picked up a book on pigs and another on butterflies yesterday at the library because of this love of hers.
Gabi is independent, but also loves snuggles. She often comes up to me and says, "I just need a hug today Mommy," and gives me a great big squeeze. She loves playing with her new dollhouse, baby stuff, and accessorizing wherever she goes. She usually has a purse stuffed with all sorts of fun trinkets in it when we go out and about. Lately when I ask Gabi if she'd like something or to do a certain activity she thinks about it and replies, "Um, I think kinda maybe not." It makes me laugh. I admire her sassiness and confidence in life (most of the time). She makes me smile.

We are so blessed with these little people in our lives.

my first "random" updates of 09'

Happy New Year! Here is what we've been up to...

*John has had these past few weeks off of classes at night. He has been overloaded at work, but we've had him in the evenings and have been enjoying our family time together. It is amazing how thankful we are now for being able to sit down at a dinner together, play a board game, reading bedtime books, etc. The kids and I have really enjoyed having him around. He starts back next Monday night.

*John took a few days off after the new year last week and boy, did we take advantage of his time off. John gutted the whole garage, made trips to the Goodwill, recycling center to get rid of some old TVs, to the Hardware store for some new plastic bins, and revamped the whole garage. We can now get both cars and John's scooter inside and it feels great. The cleaning frenzy continued throughout our house as John and I junked out the kids' and our closet, various cabinets, drawers, etc around the house. We also got Gabi's new dresser moved into her room, and the changing table and armoire moved into the den/new baby's room. John also set up the crib in there. It felt soooooooo good to get all of that accomplished especially considering the fact that John won't have a lot of time from now until baby #3 arrives in March to help out with big house projects. Our house feel so clutter free, we LOVE it!

* Speaking of baby, I'm definitely feeling third trimester side effects as my back is aching a little more, I'm feeling bigger, and feeling the baby move like crazy. He/she has been having hiccups every day, and really making big movements across my belly. We are all getting excited about his/her arrival. The kids love giving baby kisses on my belly.

I know this picture of my belly is lame (I took it), this poor baby will hardly have any photos of them self whilst in my womb. But, you can tell that I'm getting to be "large and in charge" here.

* Emilio started back to preschool this week and is adjusting back great. Gabi and I have been enjoying our time together while he's at school. Today we took a trip to Kohl's to get a few needed items with some Christmas money. I found these darling thick hooded towels for the kids with my Grandma's Christmas money for them. It was a fun sale too, buy one for $24.99 get the next one for $1.00! Gabi got a flower towel and we picked out a lion towel for Emilio. They wore them all over the house today as their dress up clothes.


* Gabi has started to alternate days on taking naps. Oh believe you me, I put her down for a nap everyday, but some days she just decides to sing/talk for 2 hours in her bed (she's cranky in the afternoons when she decides to do this, but at least she stays in bed and gives me a break, right?). Today though, she did happen to fall asleep and this is how I found my little princess. So sweet.

I guess the book put her right asleep, reading does that to me too when I'm tired. :)


* Tonight John and I are going to the first small group meeting of the new year. It also happens to be the night that we are making up our Christmas party altogether (since it was cancelled two others times due to the snow before the holidays). It'll be nice to have John with me as he usually doesn't get to attend our small group anymore due to classes on Thursday evenings. The kids are looking forward to seeing their babysitter tonight. They like the change of pace from their ol' parents.